I don't travel all that often, but over the years I've developed some tactics. As soon as I check into a room, I unpack. I find a place for everything; pants hanging in the closet (with those nice pant hangers that I don't have at home), socks and underwear in drawers, etc. I've learned not to drink tomato juice or Bloody Mary mix (favorites), but to instead drink water and coffee.

I have little patience for those guys with the "carry on bags" that are two big, but insist on bringing them on board...then trying desperately to stuff them into an overhead compartment.

I've carried a wireless device for years. In the early days (pre-smartphones), I had Web access before hitting the gates at airports.

Maybe that was the start of it. Gadgets are everywhere. Everyone, it seems, has a cell phone. Business travelers (and a few non-business travelers) haul laptops through security gates. So, it shouldn't surprise me that finding a power supply while traveling can be a problem. Or at least, put one in an unconfortable way.

I'm in LA as I type this, having flown from Des Moines, then Dallas, then here. Since our initial flight was delayed, and I had a proposal due during the day, I worked on my laptop in the Des Moines International Airport. Batteries what they are, I needed to re-juice before our delayed flight left. Hmmm, don't they have outlets all around the waiting area for all us gadget freaks to plug in to? Hardly. After a cursory look around, I found an outlet on the back side of an unused gate. No problem.

Of course, there's no power on the plane to jack in to. The work I did during our hour and a half flight was suddenly in jeopardy. This proposal had to be submitted on that day, and the layover in Dallas was my only chance.

Thankfully, the second flight was delayed. I was almost done with the proposal, and needed to find a WiFi hot spot to get connected to my e-mail. Just then, the power indicator warned me of the impending shut down of my laptop. I had to jack in to those coursing electrons immediately. But where?

I looked, but couldn't find one. Then, I remembered the dude with the Apple laptop sitting on the floor back by the entrance. Isn't that just what Apple dude do? My mind's eye had recorded the presence of a black cord jacked into the wall from his gleaming silvery white computer. Ah, power!

I rushed to the scene of the Apple prophet's sit in. Sure enough, there was an outlet ready to provide juice. Then, I did it. I sat on the floor at DFW and worked on my laptop. Like a hippie, like a nomad, like a beggar, I sat there soaking in electricity. I debased myself to keep the power flowing.

It seemed isolated, personal. Then, that night at dinner, a sales-type excused himself as if he needed to answer a cell call. When he returned, he was toting a charger for said phone. And the search was on. He was bent over looking under tables and chairs to find an outlet. For his cell phone. In a restaurant. He found it, plugged in, but his phone on a railing, and went back to his table.

How far will this go? Will some enterprising fool figure a way to charge for outlet use in airports? By the hour? By the kilowatt? Will the airports figure out that others are draining their electricity? When they do, will they pass the cost on to the airlines, who will in turn pass it on to you and me? 

For now, watch out for those folks sitting on the floor at your airport. They're not begging for money, just power. 

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